Help with installing Linux

[unwashed potato!]

I'm guessing you could do as leezer says and do a sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg and select vga or vesa just to get you to a desktop.

Actually just had a thought, is it a PCI, ISA or Onboard gfx? If it's ISA then that could be the problem :/

1. i tried typing in that reconfigure xserver-org again and now it doesnt work, all i get is something saying 'server-xorg' is not installing and n
o info is available. use dpkg --info (= dpkg-deb --info) to examine archive files

how would i find out if its PCI or ISA, its defiently not onboard as i did have onboard but bought a new one ages ago as it wasnt good enough for games.

 

[Dunky]

Should work :/ I'm pretty sure that is the command but can't check atm, I'll let someone else double check it. Double check the command you're typing in. I'm pretty sure it's:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

When you opened up /etc/X11/xorg.conf, did it display a blank file or did it already have a stuff in it?

ISA graphics cards are very old and are few and far between but if it was ISA then it would probably need to be configured manually before using it with xorg. The easiest way is to open the case and see what type of slot the card is in. Long (and black usually) means ISA, PCI slots are white (usually) and AGP is brown usually.

 

[unwashed potato!]

Should work :/ I'm pretty sure that is the command but can't check atm, I'll let someone else double check it. Double check the command you're typing in. I'm pretty sure it's:


When you opened up /etc/X11/xorg.conf, did it display a blank file or did it already have a stuff in it?

ISA graphics cards are very old and are few and far between but if it was ISA then it would probably need to be configured manually before using it with xorg. The easiest way is to open the case and see what type of slot the card is in. Long (and black usually) means ISA, PCI slots are white (usually) and AGP is brown usually.

yeah the server-xorg is exactly what i type in and it no longer works, maybe a reboot will fix it.

When i tpy the /etc/X11/xorg.conf i now get a screen with loads of info, check a few of my posts back and i wrote out some of it about my screen and things relaated to it.

Ok its late now so im going to check the type of card tomorrow morning. thanks for the help chappys

 

[leezer3]

how would i find out if its PCI or ISA, its defiently not onboard as i did have onboard but bought a new one ages ago as it wasnt good enough for games.

Ah
Therin lies the root of the problem I think- Have a look in the BIOS & make sure the integrated card is totally disabled. Starting to sound more like there's a conflict going on between the two cards and this is why Vesa didn't like it.
You could try plugging the monitor into the integrated GFX's output and see if this gives anything, but I'm afraid arguments between two GFX cards has never been something that I've come up against.

Also, on this sudo 'argument', my head still hurts Mandriva 2006 (Network server) wants the root password for whatever, but Ubuntu is accepting my user password. Not going to go ferreting through man pages and config files ATM, but I've got a suspicion its got something to do with precisely what is added to the sudoers file by the installer/ user creation.

-Leezer-

 

[Dunky]

Also, on this sudo 'argument', my head still hurts Mandriva 2006 (Network server) wants the root password for whatever, but Ubuntu is accepting my user password. Not going to go ferreting through man pages and config files ATM, but I've got a suspicion its got something to do with precisely what is added to the sudoers file by the installer/ user creation.

-Leezer-

Ubuntu by default adds the user created during installation to the sudoers list, any user created after that doesn't by default although you can manually add them via visudo (a version of vi and the only thing which can change the sudoers file).

EDIT: However I think in a server install the behaviour might be different - I remember reading something about this. No source however.

 

[unwashed potato!]

ok update

after checkling what graphics card (whats the short slang for this?) it appears that it is a PCI card as on the side it reads:

"3D Propher 4000XT PCI"

Also how would i check the bios, thought that was a windows thing? And after that how would i check if the onboard card is completely disabled, when i plug the monitor into that screen i get nothing from it, as rthought its not plugged into anything.

think that was all, thanks

jsut fired up ubuntu again and its is saying after i do the login and password that -bash: no job control in this shell. Never had this before, wjhat does it mean

too add even more to this post, im still confused on what x.org server i shld choose, i usualy choose GLcore as its defualt one, should i pick that or the many others?

 

[Evil-I]

"3D Propher 4000XT PCI"

This is apparently a geforce 3 card...

 

[leezer3]

Yup, which suggests to me that the integrated GFX hasn't been disabled, and is causing some sort of a conflict with Linux.
To get into the BIOS, you will have to press a key as the machine starts up- This is usually DEL or ESC, but if it was originally a 'big brand' PC, then this may not apply. If you post your PC/ motherboard maker, someone can advise on how to get into the BIOS & check the situation with the integrated GFX.

-Leezer-

 

[Evil-I]

Sometimes F1 or F2 as well

 

[unwashed potato!]

ok this pc is a compac presario 7477. Not sure on MB maker but would guess compac as its a compac pc. thanks again. sounds like we mihgt be nearly there with this silly problem.

 

[unwashed potato!]

ok neihter DEL or TAB or F1 or F2 work, if i hit escape it loades something, its not BIOS, but its give me the option of ubuntu, kernal 2.6.12-9-386, same thing but with (recovery mode) at the end, or, ubuntu memtest86+

and at the bottom it says if i type e i can edit something, or c for command prompt, or something else but i forget and computer is turned off now

 

[leezer3]

ok neihter DEL or TAB or F1 or F2 work, if i hit escape it loades something, its not BIOS, but its give me the option of ubuntu, kernal 2.6.12-9-386, same thing but with (recovery mode) at the end, or, ubuntu memtest86+

and at the bottom it says if i type e i can edit something, or c for command prompt, or something else but i forget and computer is turned off now

What you've got there is the GRUB bootloader menu. Basically GRUB will let you select from the different OSs installed on your PC, but its not normally showing as you only have Ubuntu installed.

To access your BIOS, the key should be F10. Go to the advanced tab, and check what the primary video adaptor is set as- It should be PCI.
Don't touch anything in the BIOS other than this, especially if you're not sure.
These are the X-Server modules which should be loaded (They all want selecting):

bitmap
dbe
ddc
dri
GLcore
extmod
freetype
int10
record
type1
vbe

-Leezer-

 

[unwashed potato!]

ok f10 got me in, and i found the advnaced tab but now im stuck.

the options iget are:
power-on self test
power loss management
PCI devices
Bus Options
Device Options
PCI VGA configuration

what do i select?

under bus options ther is a bit that says onboard VGA controller, it is set as enabled, should i disable it?

 

[leezer3]

Hiya,
Yes- You're almost certainly going to want to disable the onboard VGA through there, trouble is that info on this is a little sketchy
What are the options in PCI VGA configuration please- I want to make sure that you'll still have a display after disabling the onboard VGA

If something goes wrong and you are left without a display, you will need to reset the CMOS. Somewhere on the board, there should be a jumper labled JCMOS- Find this before you try anything (Sorry, can't be any more specific ). To reset the CMOS, unplug the machine totally and move the jumper to the other two pins in the set for about 10secs and then back again before plugging in and powering back on.

Not expecting anything to go wrong, just covering hopefully all the bases here

-Leezer-

 

[unwashed potato!]

Under PCI devices i get this:

USB Controller IRQ 11
USB Controller IRQ 11
ethernet Controller IRQ 3
VGA controller IRQ 5
Other Communication DEvice IRQ 10
Compaq Audio Device IRQ 5

Other option under "BUS options" is "PCI Bus Mastering Enable"

I tried just disabling the onboard VGA controller and then restarted dong the whole sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg and i had similiar problem. This time instead of saying about the BUS begin wrong it just said screen found but not usable.

 

[Una]

That screen found but not usable is usualy down to an incorrect resolution being set/detected.

 

[leezer3]

Bingo
All we should need now is the model of your screen, and then we should be able to give you the appropriate bits to put in the advanced screen config section, as its obviously not liking whats there currently.

Nearly there now!

-Leezer-

 

[unwashed potato!]

how would i find the model of my screen, all i know is that it'a got an IBM logo on the front and that it is i beleive 17" but measuring it from corner to corner with my 11" rule it looks only 15", in heights it 8.5" and width is 11". Refresh rate i have no clue. Anything else i would need to know and how would i find it out?

 

[leezer3]

Hiya, the easiest way to do this would be through a label somwhere on the monitor (Usually on the back) with a model number on it. Basically, with the help of google, this should tell us precisely what the screen supports. Having said that, I can take a pretty good guess-
Resolutions:
640x480
800x600
1024x768
(Probably does 1280x 1024, but not certain on the age)

The refresh rate for all of these should work at 70hz. If not, then try start at 60hz and work up in 5hz intervals until you get something

The size is normal, they measure it in a funny way

-Leezer-

 

[unwashed potato!]

well im at my dads for the weekend so wont be finding out the information until sunday evening or monday. Will post what it says on the back. I know from when using win98 its 800x600, but also when doing the sudo dpkg-reconfigure thing that the only three options are 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768.

Speak on Sunday i guess. Happy weekend